The capability to store data in memory devices improves with advances in technology. For example, a flash memory device may enable non-volatile storage of data at a semiconductor device that may include one or more memory cores, and each core may be located on a corresponding memory die.
Wear of a memory element of a memory die may occur due to writes, reads, erases, and other memory operations involving the memory element. When a memory element experiences excessive wear, it may cease to be a reliable storage element. As the number of reliable storage elements in a memory die decreases, an error rate of data read from the memory die increases. When the error rate exceeds an error correction capability of a memory device, a useful life of the memory device is considered to have ended.
Wear leveling is a technique that may prolong the life of a memory die and typically includes transferring data between memory elements of the memory die so as to distribute wear among memory elements within the memory die. By moving data that is frequently accessed from one memory element to another, memory operations including reads, writes, erases, refreshes, and other memory operations are distributed among more than one memory element. As a result, the memory die may have a longer useful life than without wear leveling.